Referral Marketing: Get Your ASK in Gear!

Do you hate to ask for referrals?

If so, you're actually in the norm. Many people feel that asking for a referral is an imposition. They feel nervous that the other person will think that they are asking out of desperation. They feel awkward putting the focus on themselves.

Asking for referrals is a natural part of doing business. It can be done well and it can be done poorly. There's a right time and a wrong time to ask for the referral. There are people you should ask and others you should not ask. This is partly why so many people struggle with asking for referrals. They don't know WHO to ask, so they just ask anyone and everyone. They don't know WHEN to ask, so they ask at the wrong time. And they've never been taught HOW to ask, so it comes out all wrong and feels uncomfortable. And if you're a normal human being ... you would avoid discomfort at all cost! Hence where you are right now ... your ASK not in gear.

Consider WHO to ask carefully and base it on the strength of the relationship. For now, let's just focus on client referrals. Ask clients who know you well, like you a lot and trust you 100%. It's easy for them to talk about you. It's comfortable for them to refer you since they believe in you. They would go out of their way to help a friend like you. You might be thinking ... "this is every client". Is it really?

Here's the caveat. Keep in mind that simply completing good work for a client doesn't necessarily produce the right conditions for asking for a referral, contrary to what most people believe. Have you built an authentic giving relationship with that client or have you treated them like a transaction? Referrals are a natural bi-product of a solid relationship. Transactions produce little more than waste. Have you brought that relationship additional value far beyond what you did for them as a client? Does the client see you as a valuable resource that they can't live without? Have you taken a genuine interest in wanting to serve their needs and help them be successful? Have you referred business to them? Have you invited them to go to networking events with you so that you could help them gain visibility and exposure?

You see, serving our clients through our profession is the expectation. Serving our relationships by bringing more value positions us to then ask for something in return. If we don't bring enough value to the relationship, we feel uncomfortable.

The bottom line is simple ... get your ASK in gear! Give more of yourself to your clients before you ask for referrals. Ask only those who know you best and those you've given a lot to. Ask when the relationship is mature. Ask in a way that helps the other person bring your value to others.

There's a lot more on this topic for future posts ... stay tuned!

Referral Marketing: Make Your Connections Count!

A new networking book just came on the market! It's called Make Your Connections Count by Thrive Publishing. This book is a collection of individual chapters related to networking that will help business professionals get the most out of their networking efforts, maximize their connections, and increase their success. The experts featured are from around the country.

I have a chapter in this book called "Great Givers Give Great Referrals". In my chapter, I discuss the Human Law of Reciprocity and how it directly impacts your referral results. I also discuss the delusion that every referral is created equally. Not true. There are six levels of referrals with each one getting closer to a closed deal being handed to you on a silver platter. The connection to the human law of reciprocity is ... if you give low level referrals to others, you will also receive low level referrals from others. So, it stands to reason that the reverse is also true ... if you give high level referrals to others, you will receive high level referrals in return. The higher the level of referral the less work you need to do to close the deal! Who wouldn't want more of that??

Some of the other chapters in this book include: "How to be a memorable connector" by Cathy Jennings; "Twitter Strategies" by Gail Nott; "Use speaking to build a thriving network" by Caterina Rando; and "Make your connections count across generations" by Bruce Bright.

To get a copy of this book or to find out more, go to my website at www.ReferralInstitutePittsburgh.com and send me an email. This book is hot off the press!

Referral Marketing: Too Much Rain!

The mighty Mississippi River is raging into farmlands and flooding anything in its path. Homes, businesses and complete towns are underwater. Where I live in Pittsburgh, we have seen 24 of 30 days in April with rainfall and more than twice the amount of rain we should have in May! Nature has gone mad! There's just too much rain and today it's 50 degrees in the middle of May. Ughhhh.

People are beginning to wonder if the sun will ever shine again long enough to dry the ponded lawns and warm the flowers that should be bright and beautiful by now. I can only watch in wonder at how the robins and bluebirds are keeping their babies warm and dry. Is Mother Nature mad at us?

What happens when it rains referrals on your business? Can you ever get to the point of having too many referrals? My short answer is YES, you can get to that point. HOW you get to that point is for another rainy day. WHAT you do when you get this is today's topic.

If you focus on a specific niche market that suits you to a tee, you are likely to get more referrals than you can handle. Then what?! You need to have a way of handling the excess so it doesn't flood your reputation. You can only handle so much until important things start to give ... follow-up gets slack, customer service suffers,etc. Now is the time to have great referral relationships! Who do you know that you can refer some of these clients to who will care for them as well as you? Who do you know who would partner with you in some way to handle the clients that aren't the best match for you? Who can handle your overflow?

Strategic alliances like this make for good business. You win ... your clients/prospects win ... your colleague wins ... and your relationships win. What more could you want? And the best part is ... nobody drowns from the rain.

Referral Marketing: Strengthen Your Relationships

Have you ever noticed that some over the counter drugs are listed as "extra stength"? If you really have a splitting headache, you might grab the extra stength version of Tylenol as opposed to regular strength. Why? Because the hope is that the extra strength variety will do more for you. The assumption is that if there is more strength in the product, you will see and feel results faster. Right?

That's exactly why you need to strengthen your relationships. The more strength in your relationships, the more they can and are willing to do for you. The more they do for you, the more results you'll see.

Referrals don't come from people ... they come from the strong relationships you have with people. So, how can you strengthen your relationships? Here's one example:

A friend of mine (who happens to be a client and referral source) discovered earlier this year that his wife has breast cancer. Once they were able to breathe again, they decided that they were going to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. They put out the word for others to support them. I organized a small team to join the walk and raise funds for the cause. Several other clients of mine gave donations to support my friend.

Supporting the efforts of your referral sources does not go un-noticed. When you offer your support out of kindness and authenticity, relationships gain strength and durability. Who can you support today?

Referral Marketing: No Pain, No Gain

Since January, I've lost 10 pounds. I decided to hire a personal trainer to hold me accountable to my fitness goals. I stopped drinking Diet Coke ... well okay, I've had one or two since January, but it's gone from my routine. I've started jogging on the treadmill ... something I could never imagine myself doing EVER. I just yesterday, I jogged for 3 miles from my hotel room.

When I stop to think about it, I've made quite a few changes this year. All the good ... but none without some pain. Working out regularly is painful at times. Giving up some things and making better food choices is painful too. But when I look down at the scale and take pants to the Tailor to be taken in ... I definitely see the gain.

Referral marketing is not a quick fix to your business. It takes effort over a period of time to reap the benefits of your investment. Relationships take time to develop and are seldom without some pain along the way. If you provide the leadership and patience, referral marketing will reward you with potentially the greatest gain you will ever experience from any other form of marketing.

The progress I've made with my fitness has taken me some time, energy, and a personal commitment on my part. No one can do this for me. I have to lead my own results one workout at a time. You need to do the same with referral marketing ... one relationship at a time!

Referral Marketing: Owl Pellets

Finally, the weather has warmed enoughed for me to be outside working on my garden. I'm a happy camper. One of the things I've noticed all around my garden are the piles and piles of soil dotting my landscape. Moles ... moles ... and more moles. In my mind, I heard myself say, "Gee, I hope there's an owl or two around to take care of these moles!"

As it turns out ... there is ... or at least there WAS! I found evidence (an owl pellet) that an owl had been nearby. Now don't get too queazy on me! An owl pellet is a hardened ball of bones and fir that an owl tosses out to the ground after a good meal. In my younger days, I used to disect these pellets with school kids to teach them about the food chain, skeletons, and nature at it's best. Basically, the owl's body knows to discard all the parts of a mouse (or mole) that it can't use or digest.

In some crazy way, we need to do the same thing with our network and networking activities. Perhaps you network in places that are not a good use of your time. Toss it out of your schedule! Perhaps you're meeting with too many people who clearly are "takers" and only want to sell you something. Become more selective of who gets your "face" time and toss the other ones out. Maybe you're asking every client for referrals when it only makes sense to ask the RIGHT ones. Toss out your behaviors that are wasting your time and focus on those that produce real results!

We often get stuck in a rut of activity without every stopping to analyze the results. My guess is that you've already begun to think about your networking and referral activity differently. What do you honestly need to keep ... and what can you toss out like an owl pellet?

Referral Marketing: Coffee Grinders

Recently, I was given a Keurig coffee machine as a gift. This is a great machine for a convenient single cup of coffee! All you need to do is drop in a "K-cup", add water, and push a button. Wa-La! It makes a perfect cup of coffee.

Even though I love the convenience of the K-cup system, I can't help but to feel guilty of tossing out all those little plastic cups into our environment (multiplied by the billions now with the popularity of Keurig). So I use the K-cups very, very sparingly. More often now, I use the re-usable filter cup that was included with the machine. I grind my own coffee beans, add the coffee to the mini-filter, insert into the machine, and wa-la ... another perfect cup of coffee and no waste!

I know you've probably seen a coffee grinder. It takes an ordinary coffee bean and grinds it into the coffee granules that make great coffee. Coffee beans in their natural state don't make great coffee. They need to be crushed, ground, or worked into granules.

Your referral network is kind of like that coffee bean in its natural state. If unattended, it's just going to sit there, stagnant, with a lot of potential locked inside. It's not going to produce anything great until you work it, educate it, nurture it, and give to it. Then, and only then, will it be able to produce the great tasting results that you're looking for.

Referral Marketing: World's Worst Networker

How many times have you been to a networking event and met someone who only wanted to talk about themselves? Have you met the person who was totally all about the food? How about the person who was passing out his/her business cards to everyone person in the room? And then, I'm sure you've run into the person who constantly looked past you to see what more interesting people there were in the room.

These networkers and more are featured in a new book by Tim Houston, called World's Worst Networker. It's an interesting look at some bad networking behaviors and how to correct them. The book is filled with lessons learned by the best in the industry from the worst networkers in the world.

And ... your's truly has a featured chapter called, "May THIS force NOT be with you!". Check it out on Amazon.com.

Referral Marketing: Diet Coke

About 25 years ago, I was in college and training for a body building contest. Yikes, I just admitted alot there in one sentence!! Anyway, in order to cut out more calories, I started blending in Diet Coke with my regular Coke. Eventually, I made the switch entirely to Diet Coke for no calories.

I had been drinking Diet Coke since then as my main beverage, except for coffee and some iced tea. Many people over the years kept telling me how bad Diet Coke was for my body. The fact that you could clean really dirty things by using Diet Coke made me wonder if my intestines were sparkling clean or not!

I decided recently to give it up all together. I haven't had a Diet Coke in nearly 2months now. Yes, some days I still crave it, but I've moved on. I made the decision and I'm sticking to it. All it took was the determination to have a healthier body.

If you're not happy with the results you're getting (or not getting) from your networking group, why not DECIDE to make a change. No ... I'm not suggesting you leave the group! Instead, change your behavior ... lead your relationships ... and create the results you want. Yes, you can expect some cravings for the complacency you once had ... but in the long run, your referral marketing efforts will be enhanced by your determination and leadership.

Referral Marketing: Life Insurance

Have you ever experienced a phone interview for life insurance? I have. It's like a medical magnifying lens is being held over top of your head. The questioning is long and intense. They want to know everything about your health history. They even want to know everything about your driving habits. Are you a risk worth taking?

Imagine if you were able to get that much information about your prospects. Imagine if your referral partners knew the questions to ask on your behalf. Imagine if your referral partners helped you pre-screen your prospects. What would it do for your business if you had this kind of information in advance? What would it do for your business if you had this kind of relationship with your referral partners?

Possible? Absolutely! Take the lead and make it happen.